Jo and Anderson walked out of their respective locker rooms towards the pool as Reid and Garcia sat on a bench waiting for them. They both started to cheer. Garcia wore a shirt that said "cheerleading" on a megaphone while Spencer waved his old fashioned triangle banner that simply had "swim" written on it.
"You both look ridiculous." Jo snickered. "What are you doing here?"
Garcia picked up her pom poms. "We are here to cheer you on." She then turned her attention to Agent Anderson wearing only a speedo with a towel draped over his shoulder. "Oh, you're right, Grant, you aren't just a pretty face."
He silently blushed.
Jo tucked her hair under her cap then stepped off of the edge, dropping into the water. She got her goggles wet then pulled herself out. Anderson did the same.
Reid stood up. "Okay, are you guys ready?"
"Wait." Anderson stopped him. "What stroke are we doing?"
"How about something simple? 100 meter, free?"
He nodded then they both got onto a block. Reid called out for them to go and they launched into the water. The two stayed pretty consistent, even after their kick-turns.
Garcia yelled. "Go! Go! Go!" As they came back to the wall.
Anderson popped his head out of the water with Jo right behind.
"You're really good, Grant." Jo praised. "Do you ever do individual medleys?"
"Yeah, that's butterfly, back, breast, then free, right?"
Jo nodded.
"I'm game."
They took their marks and dove into the water. Garcia looked at Reid who was chuckling. "What's so funny?"
"Anderson is going to lose. This is Jo's event. She set him up."
Garcia looked to see that Jo was almost a full lap ahead of him. He started to gain speed at the last leg, which was the freestyle. But Jo was still a full body ahead of him.
Jo and Anderson were catching their breath at the edge of the pool. Reid approached and leaned over to congratulate Jo. She smiled. "Here, give me a kiss." She started to pull herself up to reach him but grabbed onto his arm and pulled him into the water. "Oh, I'm sorry." Jo said sarcastically. "I didn't mean to do that."
"Very funny." Reid remarked while wading in the water.
Reid walked out of the locker room in a fresh change of clothes and met up with Jo who was waiting for him. "You are lucky that I had my go-bag in my car otherwise you would be in big trouble." He gave her a wink.
"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist." She chuckled remembering the look on his face.
Reid grabbed her hand. "Hey, I need to talk to you about something."
She knew that what he had to say was serious. They walked over to the bench together. "Okay, shoot."
He let out a sigh then looked into her eyes. "Paul is stationed at Quantico."
"What? How do you know?" Jo was stunned.
"I just wanted to do some checking. I thought about not telling you, but then if he approached you or called, I wanted you to be prepared."
Jo didn't say anything, just sat there and absorbed what he was saying. "Thank you, for confirming that for me, Spencer." She stood up. "I think I should be going." She rushed to the exit.
"Jo!" Reid called out for her.
Reid paced in front of the elevator on the sixth floor looking up every time he heard the ding sound. It finally happened. Jo stepped out of the car and came face to face with him. She was uncomfortable to see him but stopped anyway. "I left you several messages last night. Six, to be exact."
"Yes, I know. I heard them. I'm sorry but I wasn't in a talking mood." She started toward her office.
"Look Jo, I…"
"I understand." Jo cut him off. "Really I do. And I am not upset with you. I am just trying to sort all of this out, okay?"
"I just want you to know that you don't need to go through this alone." Reid reached out for her hand.
Jo gave him a smile. "I know that, and I love you for it. But some things I just have to do for myself. But look, I will be in New York with Lisa tonight. A few days away is just what I need."
"About that. I spoke to Garcia about taking you to the airport."
"Why would you do that?" Jo grew suspicious.
"I am going to be heading out on a case soon. I didn't want you to have to worry about anything."
Jo smiled. "Thank you, but I will call a cab. And we will keep in touch as much as possible."
"It might be a little difficult for me, I will be a rural area, without much cell service, but I will keep touch via LAN lines." He smirked.
"Of course, you use a rotary phone, Reiding." She teased.
"It still works."
She gave him a big hug followed by a kiss on the cheek. "You be safe and I will see you when we both get back."
While on the jet back home, Reid was staring out the window unaware that Rossi sat down across from him. "Something on your mind, Kid?"
"A great many things, actually."
"You told her about Capello, huh?"
Reid looked to Rossi and nodded.
"How'd she take it?"
"About as well as could be expected. She didn't seem too surprised but more like a reassurance that he was…" He stopped.
"He was what?" Rossi questioned.
"Haunting her." Reid looked confused. "That is the only way that I could describe it."
"Is she still in New York?"
Reid nodded. "Yes, she is supposed to be flying back this evening. I was going to go to the airport to surprise her."
"That sounds like a good plan."
After the jet landed, Reid dialed Jo. There was no answer but he left a message on her voicemail. "Hey, it's Spencer. We just landed, call me."
"Hey Kid." Morgan called out. "You calling your girlfriend?"
"I tried to. Went straight to voicemail. I think she might be on the plane already."
"You know she lied to me." Morgan said with a smile.
"Lied about what?"
"She said she never dated co-workers." He winked as he walked by.
Reid drove to the airport and looked for her incoming flight information, the plane was on time and landed ten minutes ago. He stood where the passengers came out towards baggage claim, looking for her. He dialed her up again and her phone went to voicemail. "It's Spencer, again. I am starting to get worried. Did you take a different flight? Give me a call." He then dialed Lisa. "Hey, Lisa, I was wondering if Jo was still with you or left already."
"Jo never came out."
"What?"
"She sent me a text before she was supposed to fly out that she was stuck at work and wouldn't be able to make it. Spencer, what is going on?"
"I am not sure, I will call you as soon as I know anything." Reid hung up with Lisa then dialed another number as he rushed to his car. "Garcia, I need to find Jo. Please track her cell phone for me."
Reid drove up to Jo's apartment building and ran to her door. First he pounded, but after there was no response, he used the spare key she gave him. He opened the door to find the place trashed. He searched but she wasn't there. He made another phone call. "Hotch, I need your help."